On the twenty-fourth day of the first lunar month, the weather changed from sunny to cloudy. At dusk, there was a drizzle in Luojing City.

Gao Longqing, the Shaoqing of Honglu Temple, has been having nightmares for many days in a row.

Every night, when he closes his eyes and falls asleep, he sees a deserted cemetery.

The sky was dark, the clouds hung low, and the sedges of the stems and leaves swayed in the wind. The tombstone was in a tattered state, crawling with moss and clear cracks.

Above the graveyard, there were several green glowing ghostly fires - if you looked closely, you would find that there were vague figures hidden in these ghostly fires, and their expressions were hideous and terrifying.

Gao Longqing hurried through this cemetery every night, eager to escape from this eerie area. However, no matter how fast he runs, he will only end up going around in circles.

Sometimes, those figures in the green ghost fire would surround Gao Longqing's side, stretch out their hands to him, and beg for him. Only when Gao Longqing took out his belongings and handed them over to them would they leave.

Otherwise, they would have been following Gao Longqing all the time, muttering words in an eerie voice that he couldn't understand, and even reaching out to strangle his neck.

Because of this, Gao Longqing often woke up from his dream in the middle of the night during the third watch. He would jump out of bed with a scream, covered in cold sweat, his heart pounding, and he would never be able to sleep again.

As time passed, his spirit became more and more emaciated, his face became worse and worse, his head became dizzy every day, and he became more forgetful than the old man - his superiors told him to draft official documents, and he forgot when he went out; When his subordinates reported to him, he forced the other party to repeat it three times.

Fortunately, Honglu Temple is not a busy department.

It is in charge of court meetings, state ceremonies, banquets and other affairs. Since Emperor Tianxing had not been in court for many years, and he had not gone out to meet with his ministers, the post in Honglu Temple had almost become a recognized idle errand, and Gao Longqing barely had time to make up for his mistakes in his work.

However, the much-anticipated "Luoshui Conference" is coming.

The workload of Honglu Temple is about to multiply.

Gao Longqing was very worried that he would not be able to keep up with the pace of work because of this nightmare, and he would eventually be demoted.

He also found many famous doctors in Luojing City to help him see a doctor.

But doctors all said he didn't have any other physical problems other than a lack of rest.

He had also wondered if it could be caused by ghosts.

But his wife, his children, and his colleagues all said in unison: "How could there be ghosts within the scope of the 'Heavenly Dragon Great Array' in Luojing City? ”

The "Heavenly Dragon Great Array" is a magic circle personally arranged by Emperor Taizu of Great Qi, which is integrated with Luojing City. With the "Tai'a Sword" as the eye, it is on offensive and defensive alert, and can isolate the ghosts from the outside of the city.

In the minds of most of the people of Daqi, the emperor who controls the "Tai'a Sword" is an almost god-like existence. They all had an almost blind worship of the emperor.

Naturally, they also firmly believed in the efficacy of the "Heavenly Dragon Great Array".

Gao Longqing thought about it and felt that what they said was very reasonable.

He felt that if there were really ghosts in the capital, then the Heavenly Skill Cultivators of the Exorcism Division should have been able to calculate it a long time ago, and it would be impossible for them to escape the eyes of the head of Luo Si - the Exorcism Division would definitely have sent someone to solve it a long time ago. The reason why I have nightmares must be my own problem.

Until the evening of the twenty-fourth day of the first lunar month, an uninvited guest came to Gao Longqing's mansion.

It was a woman dressed in black and wearing a hat.

She was of medium height, and her appearance was not pretty, she was the kind of public face that could not be found in the crowd.

But her eyes were extremely sharp, like an unsheathed sword.

"Tall, you have been haunted by a tomb ghost." She stood at the foot of the steps outside the door, looked up at Gao Longqing, and said in a voice without emotional fluctuations.

"Grave ghosts?" Gao Longqing frowned slightly.

Although it is not correct to question the effectiveness of the "Heavenly Dragon Great Array" in Luojing City; He didn't know much about the "tomb ghost" in the woman's words.

But deep in Gao Longqing's heart, he faintly felt that what this woman said was correct.

"The Grave Ghost is a type of ghost that haunts cemeteries," the woman in black continued in a flat tone, "and it has the ability to hold dreams. When it lacks possessions, it harasses people through dreams, hoping to give them sacrifices.

"'Heavenly Dragon Great Array', sure enough, there are still loopholes......"

Then she paused for a moment and stretched out her hand towards Gao Longqing: "Lord Gao, do you have a pen here?" ”

"Pen?"

Gao Longqing didn't know what she wanted to do.

But driven by some intuition, he went back to the house and fetched a brush for the woman in black.

"Do you need ink?"

"No need." The woman in black shook her head.

With a brush in hand, she climbed the steps and came to the portrait of the door god posted on the gate of the high mansion.

The porter depicted in the portrait is burly, wearing a helmet and a fancy battle robe.

However, since these two portraits were bought casually in the market, their workmanship was not very exquisite, the lines were relatively stiff, and they lacked the charm they deserved.

The woman in black pondered for a moment, then lifted the brush and tapped it lightly on the door god's eyes.

The eyes of the door gods suddenly took on a brightness—fierce, majestic, like lions that had encroached on their territory.

Immediately afterwards, the two door gods came out of the portrait with their respective weapons in hand.

Gao Longqing stood in place in shock.

Although he had witnessed the monks fighting or exorcising demons before, those monks were either slashing with swords or muttering incantations with paper runes, and he had never seen such a mysterious trick in the form of painting.

In the blink of an eye, the two door gods turned into phantoms and floated into Gao Longqing's mind.

His consciousness returned to the horrible cemetery.

But this time, in the face of those green ghost fires, Gao Longqing would never feel fear again.

Because by his side, there are two Dharma protectors, one on the left and one on the right.

One with a spear and the other with a broadsword ran towards the "tomb ghost" in the cemetery, slashing and slashing with wide open and close.

There was a shrill cry in the cemetery, and then fell silent.

The green glow was extinguished.

Gao Longqing's consciousness returned to the real world.

He turned his head to look at the door of his house, and saw that the two gods were still fixed on the portrait, motionless, their brushwork stiff, and their eyes darkened.

Everything that happened just now seemed to be his hallucination.

"From today onwards, the 'Tomb Ghost' will never come to haunt you at night again." The woman in black said lightly.

"Who are you?" Gao Longqing hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help but ask.

"Tongjifang Zhao Xinran." The woman in black replied briefly.

Then she turned away, and soon disappeared into the night, never to be seen again.

"Zhao Xinran? Is it the famous rune master? Gao Longqing scratched his head, "I seem to have seen this name in the newspaper recently, as if she is going to teach at the Longmen Academy in a few days......"

However, before Gao Longqing could recall who this "Tongjifang" Zhao Xinran was, he felt that his memory was gradually disappearing.

Soon, he forgot about the "tomb ghost", the woman in black, the nightmare that haunted him, and the fact that the "Heavenly Dragon Array" might have loopholes.

"It's better for you not to know something." In the vast night, the woman in black sighed softly, then turned a corner and walked straight towards the southwestern suburbs of Luojing City.

…………

The twenty-fifth day of the first month.

This is the day when Gu Xu went to Longmen Academy to participate in the teaching selection.

As soon as the day dawned, he finished his all-night practice, then straightened his clothes and went to the Yamen Kitchen for breakfast.

Recently, through the word of mouth of the officials, almost everyone knew that Gu Xu was going to have a face-to-face battle with several famous talismans in the capital.

They are looking forward to it.

When Gu Xu sat at the dining table eating steamed buns and drinking soy milk, many officials came to his side to cheer and bless him.

Maybe it's because the aura on Gu Xu's body is too dazzling.

The monks of the Exorcism Division were extremely confident in him, and they were already fantasizing about Gu Xu beating opponents from all walks of life and trampling all the talismans in the capital under their feet.

"Gu Xu, how are you prepared?" Shi Xiaohan carried a large steamer containing ten meat buns in his left hand and a large bowl of beef noodles in his right hand and sat in front of Gu Xu.

"It's okay." Gu Xu smiled.

"I heard that the treatment of the teachers at Longmen Academy is very good," Shi Xiaohan said as he stuffed buns into his mouth, "If you can win, remember to invite me to eat a few roast mutton by the Luohe River." ”

"No problem."

As a six-rank official, the Exorcism Division has a special carriage to send Gu Xu to Longmen Academy.

Shi Xiaohan had not yet officially enrolled in the school, nor had he been invited by the academy, so he could only stay in the Yamen of the Exorcism Division for the time being, quietly waiting for his news.

…………

When I left the yamen, there was still a light rain in the sky, which made the bluestone pavement wet.

At this time, Luojing City had not yet woken up from its sleep.

In this tranquil atmosphere, the sound of wheels, horses' hooves, and even the sound of rain falling along the eaves is particularly clear.

The carriage moved smoothly and unhindered on the banks of the Luo River.

Soon, it passed through the capital, drove out of the city gate, and came to the official road outside the city.

Gu Xu leaned out of the window.

In his field of vision, he could already glimpse the buildings with white walls and gray tiles, surrounded by mountains and rivers.

He knew that it was Longmen Academy.

In this continuous rain, it is like a thick ink painting.

…………

Inside the college.

Dean Li's cousin, Mo Li, rubbed his eyes and stood up from the side of his desk.

He read his talisman notes all night long.

At this time, although he was a little tired physically, he was very energetic, and he only felt full of confidence, and felt that any problems in the way of the path could not be difficult for him.

ps: There is still a chapter later (it should be after midnight).

7017k